The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1887-05-11

TX PioO i lHeS CluScs DuU, uB II tcHCllGr,
rs u crystallized epitome Of u by.gone
era, the book must live; that. Mr.. Hall
stone was determined. CORRESPONDING
to no casuistical questions as to what
really does or does not constitute the
past, Felix boldly put the matter be-
yond all dispute and laid his plot In the
year 1870. Then he read up The period,
let his pen dry, and lived, for tho space
Of q month, among books other than
his own. After which course OF study,
ordering in ink as another man might
order in table ale, the author wrote
twelve hours six days II week, and
corrected for the press upon the sew
enth.
With the production Of this ponder
GUS and historically accurate work we
bring Felix to the most important
period Of his whole life; that l II which
the "IIailstonc Competition first
entered his mind, and from Which this
narrative properly has Its being.
Mr.. I1ailstone was fifty years of age,
and had written hard upon twice that
number OF novels, when one day, in
his morning newspaper, he chanced to
see an advertisement, Of which the SUBJ
stance Was as follows:
Three prizes Of small value wore
offered for tho longest list Of charac-
ters from the fiction Of Thackeray.
What measure Of success attended this
speculation is not generally known;
but he OF she who devised this compe-
titlon has without question, a very
considerable claim on MI. IIailstone
and may, indeed, long since have
pushed it.
Felix recd and Illuminated: then II
great thought spread Its light over his
face, and terrific possibilities entered
Ills mind. Advertisements both bold
and subtle lie had t-icd ana tried again,
but nothing calculated to carry his
name all Yer tho world, and certainly
nothing in the slightest degree likely
to raise universal interest in his writ
ings. Now, however, both these much.
desiring c~onsummations appeared with
Ill measurable distance of fulnlment.
Substitute, if you please, Mr. Hall
stones name for that OF the great
novelist already mentioned, enormously
increase the sun Of money to be Of
fered as prizes, and you sec our friends
scheme IN Il nutshell.
Now Thackcray has Il nero tritle of
some three thousand characters In his
works OF fiction, but this number sinks
into nothingne3s when compared with
HailstoDe's creations. From tho mo-
ment when, at seven years Of age, his
youthful mind. saturated in nursery
fable, little Felix, with much linking Of
fingers, scrawlcd something which a
proud father caused to be printed YER
batlm, to the days we now treat Of,
the writer's ngments had numerically
Increased with years, until, on the
90 ,naos' 1Jo oo,,PuIasloh so1lie 9'ooo
oh,iina" 10y uun ihon' monlen ~
e]irnIns,A ..',,>" ~ ~ oAio'0ioo - i''S
q'D,ai ~" o'"'..''
~ i'lliSVo'P' ms iaea Qhce per
1ecNcp' fanle 70 BUSINESS Win tie III
I''9c hptlv'H.e ItltfljV the idilo"-
!nE i"i'' ii--oN ,,e, 1922 -NlS M ONiGs
@!gi'p "lNs'ie" M~letty3S I'lc #lsn@ttSh
,nnsm' M' 9p'nu''; Ah i3p,iuoR TX
aso - o.too v" .Aa,,Su q ht"li
work so big u business would entail.
His advertisement itself, us being
unique among the curiOsities or litera-
ure, we here trans:ribe:
..;n
srm neton 1hM.,.sioN WI give INC
-, ~ . iouoaiiu, nxe Iiiouhaiu ana
U,J r ~. .ua roulius stclillig, reSpccC.
aroay, ~ o.o tn1I 10 'riosC cohiplete ISIS
~ not,an :, y , uo loulu ~ ms WorKs
u,;Istnua rnn,n ,1ts iioSC ~ AZ Inc
iV;,iian, 81 rant p.,,.9n Cilce, hlhg
t,,aiwa n,o'n ,JoO' i'o.I'on, ~; n, Delore
M, ymo'1 1oas o'ooN' ! ~ vi olSs l'eccm-
em"1.,
iil.ouins colipe1.lols "ouid 40 well
foc.. ~ wy" ''is '''osC Important
~ ~.